Starting today, the Center takes this project to the next level by listing more than $100 million in contributions to nondisclosing groups made since the Citizens United decision in 2010. CRP’s database now accounts for contributions from about 50 donor organizations to 45 politically active nonprofit organizations, which are not required to disclose their donors to the public.

We will continue to improve and expand the list over time, but the process is painstaking.

First, there is no list of donors to start with; CRP has developed a list of about 200 organizations to monitor for donations. Second, the Form 990 documents that organizations file with the IRS, in which they list grants they have made to other groups, are not made public by the agency; that may change in the future, but for now we must rely on organizations like GuideStar.org and the Foundation Center. Still, months often pass between the filing of a 990 and its appearance on one of these sites. Third, even when a donor organization is located, the data is not easily extracted. Form 990s are not electronically searchable, and they can be long — anywhere from 10 to 600 pages. In addition, the relevant data is often not presented in a clear fashion; different organizations sometimes choose different ways to categorize inflows and outflows of cash on the forms.

A word about our methodology: When we find an organization that has given money to one or more politically active nonprofits, we record the contributions of $25,000 or more.

We exclude grants that are given for specific purposes that cannot include politics. For example, if an organization makes a grant and notes that it is to be used for entrepreneurial training or commissioned studies about wildlife conservation, we exclude the record from our data.

Once the contributions are recorded, the records are standardized and matched with our outside spending database. Ultimately, only the records of contributions to organizations that have reported independent expenditures or electioneering communications to the FEC are included on our website.

So henceforth, OpenSecrets.org users who are browsing nondisclosing groups will be able to find the organizations we’re aware of that gave to the groups by clicking the donor tab. For example, when viewing the summary page for the American Action Network, users can click the donor link and see more than $9 million in contributions that the Center for Responsive Politics has been able to locate.

As previously mentioned, due to the lax filing requirements for 501(c) organizations, this list is incomplete. Moreover, we still have no way of knowing the corporations and individuals who give or have given directly to these organizations, as opposed to the other nonprofits that do so. The Center for Responsive Politics readily welcomes any tips or documents that show contributions to politically active nondisclosing groups, or leads that we can follow.

Robert joined the Center in August 2011 as the outside spending and PACs researcher. In 2012, he started CRP's Politically Active Nonprofits project, which tracks the financial networks of "dark money" groups, mainly 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) organizations. In 2014, he won, with colleague Viveca Novak, the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Online Journalism for a series of stories published on OpenSecrets Blog. Robert has a masters in U.S. foreign policy from American University. Before coming to Washington, D.C., he lived, studied and worked for several years in France and Taiwan, traveling extensively in Europe and Asia. He is originally from Charleston, SC.

Media Contact

Viveca Novak
(202) 354-0111
press@crp.org

Search

Archives

Categories

Count Cash & Make Change.

OpenSecrets.org is your nonpartisan guide to money's influence on U.S. elections and
public policy. Whether you're a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen,
use our free site to shine light on your government.